Zack Hample has snagged 7,806 baseballs at 51 different major league stadiums since 1990. Find out how and see what else he's been up to.

Two home runs!!

As you may have heard, I snagged two home run balls tonight (April 18th) during the game at Yankee Stadium. (As you definitely heard if you were there, I got called all sorts of names for not throwing the first one back onto the field, but c’mon, that was Didi Gregorius’s first major league homer. I’m not stupid.) I’m just getting started on a big blog entry about it, so here’s a quick photo for now:

Stay tuned. Lots of details and photos coming soon . . .

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29 Comments

Zack good job a 1000 $ day for BIGS. ya first post,throw back a dummy ball next time..see u at your buddy Trout s game 1st jack ya for Mr Nederlands see u sunday in anaheim ..padreleigh is coming.Devon will catch pujols 500th not you

ODOG-
Not to put a damper on things, but it was “only” a $500 day. BIGS Sunflower Seeds is going to donate $500 to Pitch In For Baseball for every *stadium* at which I snag a game-used ball this season . . . not $500 per ball.

It’s funny, I saw the Cervelli catch first (I wasn’t watching the game earlier) and immediately I told my wife, “That was totally Hample that just caught Cervelli’s HR.” (nevermind that he just tied the game in the bottom of the 9th. I was just impressed that ‘whoever’ just caught that didn’t Jeffrey Maier it and let it clear the wall. Sure enough, it ends up being you). Only after jumping on Twitter did I see that was your 2nd of the game. Ho-hum, no big deal haha. Conspiracy theorists are going to be wondering what’s in those sunflower seeds, ya know. “He wasn’t catching 2 homeruns a game last year!” Are those manufactured in either the Bay Area or Miami?

Hey Zack – great job reaching into the field of play to potentially alter the outcome of the game. Fan interference – that’s something to be really proud of dude. Great job. I hope that Didi kicked your ass during your meet and great with him for (1) your extortion; and (2) trying to make yourself a part of the game. Want to be on the field and impact the outcome of a MLB game – put in the time and effort that a guy like Didi put in and work your way up to it. But you’d rather buy tix in the cheap seats and stick your glove out over the yellow line and into the field of play. Nicely done – you should be sooo proud.

MIKE-
Still haven’t tried to convert them, and now with all this home run stuff and my upcoming trip to the west coast, I doubt I’ll have time for a while.

LIZ MERRY-
Some of them were awful last night (threatening me, trying to rip the baseballs out of my hands, etc.), but some were really cool.

RYAN MOBERLY-
Cool that you got to see him coming up. I hadn’t even heard of him until recently.

DYLAN-
Nice.

ANGEL-
Thanks for the link. I hadn’t yet seen that. It’s been hard to keep up with everything.

DANR-
Ha. Those seeds *are* pretty damn good, but I’ve read the ingredients — nothing illegal. Thanks for acknowledging the fact that I didn’t interfere on the Cervelli homer. Looks like I have to set the record straight with the haters . . .

MIKE-
I had a legit ticket for left field. The issue was the Gregorius homer that I snagged in right field, but I had a legit excuse: I was visiting a friend out there who had an extra ticket. Now, as for the fact that I happened to be there just when that ball happened to be hit? That was no coincidence.

JOHN Q. PUBLIC-
If I’d reached over the wall and interfered with that game-tying home run in the bottom of the 9th inning, three things would have happened. First, Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson would’ve come out to argue. Then the umpires would’ve gone into the video room to watch it on instant replay and reverse the call, and finally, I would’ve been ejected by stadium security. None of those things happened. As for Didi Gregorius, when security approached me and informed me that he wanted the ball back, my only request was to personally hand it to him so I could shake his hand and get a photo. As it turned out, Gregorius gave me a signed ball in exchange for his home run, but I hadn’t asked for that. I hope that sets the record straight.

BEN WEIL-
Well, *I* wish you were there. Woulda been fun to share the moment with you.

JONNY-
I was telling the Diamondbacks (not that they could hear/see me, but figured the cameras were rolling) to come find me. I knew it was the guy’s first homer and that that they’d want the ball back.

Dude see you all the time at yankee games was there last night as well we talked outside out gate 2 before the game im a 17 yr old kid going to a game april 25th at yankee stadium hope to see you then bro!

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